"Gild is not the only company now scouring for information. TalentBin, another San Francisco start-up firm, searches the Internet for talented programmers, trawling sites where they gather, collecting “data exhaust,” according to the company Web site, and creating lists of potential hires for employers. Another competitor is RemarkableHire, which assesses a person’s talents by looking at how his or her online contributions are rated by others.

"And there’s Entelo, which tries to figure out who might be looking for a job before they even start their exploration. According to its Web site, the company uses more than 70 variables to find indications of possible career change, such as how someone presents herself on social sites. The Web site reads: “We crunch the data so you don’t have to.”

Abstract

A new book by Dr David Manlove of the School of Computing Science has recently been published by World Scientific as part of their Series on Theoretical Computer Science. This book, called “Algorithmics of Matching Under Preferences”, deals with algorithms and complexity issues surrounding the matching of agents to one another when preferences are involved. For example, in several countries, centralised matching schemes handle the annual allocation of intending junior doctors to hospitals based on their preferences over one another. Efficient algorithms required to solve the underlying theoretical matching problems. Similar examples arise in the allocation of pupils to schools, students to projects, kidney patients to donors, and so on. The book surveys algorithmic results for a range of matching problems involving preferences, with practical applications areas including those mentioned above. It covers the classical Stable Marriage, Hospitals/Residents and Stable Roommates problems, where so-called stable matchings are sought, thereby providing an update to “The Stable Marriage problem, Structure and Algorithms”, by Dan Gusfield and Rob Irving, published by MIT Press in 1989. It also extends the coverage to the House Allocation problem, where stability is no longer the key requirement for a matching, and other definitions of optimality hold. This book builds on the author’s prior research in this area, and also his practical experience of developing, with colleagues including Rob Irving and Gregg O’Malley, algorithms for matching kidney patients to donors in the UK (collaborating with NHS Blood and Transplant), for assigning medical students to hospitals in Scotland (in collaboration with NHS Education for Scotland), and for allocating students to elective courses and projects (within the Schools of Medicine and Computing Science at the University of Glasgow, respectively). The book is also timely, as the research area recently came to the forefront in 2012 following the award of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences to Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley, two leading contributors to the field of matching theory and its application in practical settings, whose work is described in detail throughout the book. A Foreword is contributed by Kurt Mehlhorn of Max-Planck Institut fur Informatik, Saarbrucken, who wrote: “This book covers the research area in its full breadth and beauty. Written by one of the foremost experts in the area, it is a timely update to “The Stable Marriage Problem: Structure and Algorithms” (D. Gusﬁeld and R.W. Irving, 1989). This book will be required reading for anybody working on the subject; it has a good chance of becoming a classic.”

"Shanghai’s busy streets teem with Buicks, Fords, Volkswagens, and Toyotas. More than 9 out of 10 cars in the world’s most populous city are made by foreign companies, and it’s not just a reflection of mainlanders’ preference for Western design. Some local automakers say the city’s license plate auctions are responsible for their weak sales. Shanghai is one of four Chinese cities that limit car purchases by imposing quotas on registrations. The prices paid at Shanghai’s license auctions in recent months—90,000 yuan ($14,530)—have exceeded the cost of many entry-level cars, the stronghold of Chinese brands such as Chery, Geely, and Great Wall. While residents with modest incomes may be able to afford an inexpensive car, the registration cost is often beyond their reach. “Whenever there’s a restriction of new car purchases through the quota system, there is always a big impact on lower-price cars like the ones we make,” says Lawrence Ang, executive director of Geely Automobile Holdings (175), whose Panda minicar sells for 37,800 yuan.

"After Beijing (pop. 21 million) introduced a license plate lottery in January 2011, the combined share of Chinese brands sold there plunged by more than half, to 9.7 percent for the year, according to researcher IHS Automotive. In Shanghai, which began auctioning license plates in 1994, domestic brands made up only 8.9 percent of cars sold in 2011 (the most recent data available), less than a third the level nationwide, IHS reports."

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Non-simultaneous chains started by non-directed donors have assumed a large role in American kidney exchange for a number of reasons (on which, see e.g. here, and here...). The average chain isn't too long (about 5 or 6 in some of the exchanges with which Itai Ashlagi and I have been working lately), but the longest chains can be quite long. Here are some reports (a press release, another press release, and a news story) of one of those, organized by the National Kidney Registry, which included 56 people (28 donors and 28 recipients).

Here's an excerpt from the U. Penn release:

"Earlier this month, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the National Kidney Registry, in partnership with 18 transplant centers across the country, successfully completed the second largest kidney exchange in history and the largest to be concluded in under 40 days. Dubbed Chain 221, the swap involved 56 participants (28 donors and 28 recipients). "

Richmond, Va. - The OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors, meeting June 24 and 25, approved substantial amendments to OPTN policy for deceased donor kidney allocation. The policy will maintain access to kidney transplantation for all groups of candidates while seeking to improve outcomes for kidney transplant recipients, increase the years recipients may have a functioning transplant and increase utilization of available kidneys. The implementation date of the policy was not immediately established but is expected to occur in 2014.

"These changes will result in better long-term kidney survival and more balanced waiting times for transplant candidates," said OPTN/UNOS President John Roberts, M.D.

Matching to increase benefit and utilization

More than 96,000 people are currently listed for kidney transplantation nationwide. About 10 percent of kidney candidates die each year while waiting. Because there are not enough kidneys donated to meet the need, it is important to improve benefit by matching recipients according to the potential function of the kidney and ensure as many kidneys as possible are transplanted.

The newly approved policy includes new factors not used in the current policy. Their use is recommended to enhance survival benefit and use of available kidneys.

Existing policy definitions of "standard criteria" and "extended criteria" donors will be replaced with the Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI), a clinical formula that classifies donor kidneys based upon how long they are likely to function once transplanted. Kidney transplant professionals already have access to this index as an informational resource.

The policy will also include a clinical formula to estimate the number of years each specific candidate on the waiting list would be likely to benefit from a kidney transplant. This score is called the Estimated Post-transplant Survival formula (EPTS).

Under the new policy, when a kidney donor is entered into the matching system, that individual donor's KDPI score will be considered along with the individual EPTS for compatible candidates. "A limited number of kidneys expected to function the very longest will be considered first for the candidates expected to need them for the longest amount of time," said John Friedewald, M.D., chairman of the OPTN/UNOS Kidney Transplantation Committee.

The policy is expected to increase overall "life-years" (time that recipients retain kidney function after the transplant). It may also reduce recipients' future need for repeat transplants, thus allowing more transplants among candidates awaiting their first opportunity.

The kidney matching process would not change for the majority of kidney transplant candidates unless they receive additional priority based on other considerations addressed below.

Promoting greater utilization

The 15 percent of kidney offers estimated to have the shortest potential length of function based on KDPI score will be offered on a wider geographic basis. Transplant programs may be most likely to consider these offers for candidates who would have a better life expectancy with a timely transplant than they would remaining on dialysis. This feature is expected to increase utilization of donated kidneys currently available for transplant. It may also help minimize differences in local transplant waiting times across different regions of the country.

The policy does not affect the decision-making process between an individual candidate and his or her transplant team regarding kidney offers they would be willing to accept for a transplant. The use of KDPI will provide the candidate and transplant team a clearer understanding of the potential function of the kidney to allow for more informed treatment decisions.

Waiting time calculation

As in the current kidney allocation system, the longer a candidate has waited for a transplant, the more priority he or she will have compared to others who have waited less time.

The current national default policy assigns waiting time when the candidate is listed with a program, even if he or she had begun dialysis or met other criteria for end-stage kidney failure before being listed.

Under the amended policy, once a person is accepted as a transplant candidate, waiting time will be calculated from the date the person first had a GFR score (a standard clinical measure of kidney function) less than or equal to 20 ml/minute, or when the candidate began dialysis or other renal replacement therapy, even if that date preceded the transplant listing.

Access for candidates with biological disadvantages

The revised policy will enhance access to transplantation for candidates with biological disadvantages including less common blood types and/or high immune system sensitivity.

The policy will facilitate kidney offers from donors with certain subtypes of blood type A for transplant candidates with blood type B. Some type B candidates are compatible with donors who have these specific subtypes.

The policy also creates a sliding scale of additional priority for candidates with an immune system sensitivity, measured in a percentage using a calculated panel reactive antibody (CPRA) score, beginning at 20 percent. Since extremely highly sensitized candidates (CPRA score of 98 percent or higher) have very few opportunities for a compatible transplant, they would receive higher proportional priority than those with more moderate sensitization levels.

Additional considerations

Upon implementation of the policy, local organ allocation areas will no longer owe "payback" kidney debts when a transplant center accepts a well-matched kidney offer from a different local donation service area. Research has not shown any definable benefit in recipient outcomes from payback offers.

A number of alternate kidney allocation systems currently operated in different local areas of the country will also end upon policy implementation. Many of these local systems were intended to study allocation methods now incorporated into the national policy proposal.

"The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, said he and his fellow judges were “acutely aware of the desperate situation” faced by people such as Tony Nicklinson, the “locked-in” syndrome sufferer who starved himself to death last year after losing a right-to-die case.

"But he said “only basic principles of law” could decide whether or not there could ever be any relaxation of the ban on assisted suicide.

"He also challenged lawyers brandishing opinion poll findings pointing to strong public support for a change in the law, questioning how it was relevant, adding: “The public may change its mind next week.”

"He said the case could not be decided “on the basis of opinion polls”.

"Lord Judge was speaking as he, joined by the Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson and Lord Justice Elias, began to hear submissions as part of a wide ranging Court of Appeal challenge to the UK’s laws on euthanasia."

Monday, June 24, 2013

"For Wall Street’s top young analysts, landing at a prestigious investment bank out of college was the easy part. Now comes the fierce competition to line up a high-paying job at a prominent buyout fund, just months into their first professional jobs.
...
"Traditionally, these jobs do not begin immediately but a year and a half later, after analysts finish their two-year contracts.
...
"One second-year analyst at a large bank said she had hardly been exposed to working in the finance world when the rush to find a job on the “buy side” began.

“There’s a progression that people go through,” she said. “You’re two months in, you start getting calls from recruiters, and you feel left out if you’re not participating. It’s a very enticing concept to lock up a job and your ticket out of banking a year and a half out.”
...
"Because they are trying to place analysts with such little work experience, recruiters will look for anything to identify the cream of the crop. College grade-point averages, high school test scores and community service are all fair game, Ms. Morgan said.
...
"Efforts have been made to push back a process that has been inching ahead, earlier and earlier. Last year, a handful of top-flight private equity funds including Blackstone, Carlyle and Warburg Pincus tried to delay recruiting until analysts were halfway through their second year, according to multiple private equity executives.

"The larger private equity funds waited, partly in response to big banks that were cracking down on recruiting. Goldman Sachs fired analysts who conceded they had lined up new positions in their first year, and Morgan Stanley banned first-year bankers from looking for new jobs, according to executives at both banks.

“There has been backlash,” said a former Goldman Sachs analyst who went through the recruiting process three years ago and is now an associate at a midmarket private equity fund. “You don’t really want your full investment banking analyst class checking out with a year and a half left on their contracts because they know they have another job lined up.”

"The banks were not concerned about losing talent but frustrated with the conflicts of interest that emerge after analysts pledge themselves to another employer.

...

“Once you have an offer, maybe you don’t want to work late nights three, four or five nights a week,” she said. “Maybe you don’t want to hop on every single live deal.”

"Morgan Stanley has since bowed to employee complaints, lifting its ban on first-year bankers’ job hunts this spring, according to two people briefed on the decision. Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

...

"The large buyout funds began ratcheting up recruitment drives last month, once again pursuing analysts in their first year.

"The funds that agreed to wait felt they had lost top employees to hedge funds and middle-market shops that aggressively recruited first-year analysts, said a private equity executive who oversees his firm’s hiring efforts.“It’s back to a knife fight in an alley,” the executive said. “And it’s not fair because these kids get barely any on-the-job training before a recruiter reaches out to them. We should just be recruiting these kids out of middle school. Forget high school, college and Goldman Sachs.”

Sunday, June 23, 2013

When I was in Haifa to attend the conference in memory of Uri Rothblum (where I gave this talk), I was reminded that I used to visit often: for many years I was on the Board of Governors of the Technion.

And so, while I was there, I got an honorary degree, and planted a tree.

Friday, June 21, 2013

"People accused of practising black magic in Indonesia could be jailed for five years if a revised criminal code is accepted by parliament.

"However, there is a lot of resistance to the proposed new law, as witchcraft is big business in the country."
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In the United States and elsewhere, there are all sorts of laws and regulations about who may (and who may not) practice medicine, and I expected the story to be about efforts to ban witchdoctors on the grounds of practicing medicine without a license. But the story suggests that at least some of the motivation for the ban comes from a feeling that witchcraft is effective...

Thursday, June 20, 2013

"In France, the law authorizing donations cross between living persons of July 2011 and its implementing decree was published in the Official Journal in September 2012. With the development of matching software, the first cross-kidney donation could take place before the end of 2013. Experts expect twenty additional transplants per year in the country.
Organ donation called "crossover" allows a living person who has expressed its intention to grant the benefit of a receiver identified on hold, to be offered to participate in a cross organ donation in cases of medical incompatibility receiver initially selected. General ethical principles for donations and uses of elements and products of the human body must be met: consent to the collection, revocable at any time, free, anonymous; estimate of the risk / benefit of interventions and implementation of the system of health surveillance . That the pairing mechanism is put in place, there must be at least 50 "couples" of volunteers. The selection process is currently underway. Each donor should have a complete medical checkup. The "couples" then pass a special committee to verify the absence of coercion and financial dealings. The donor is heard by a court. Then the couples are reviewed by the National Center for allocating grafts, which decides on their eligibility or not the database pairs.
It must be the work of computerized winners of Nobel Prize in Economics in 2012 matching the Americans Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley. Their game theory has revolutionized the organization of cross donation for kidney transplantation in the United States by allowing the matching of thousands of donors and recipients of organs. It is estimated that about 2000 patients so far received a kidney through this system, without which they would not have been grafted.
On the occasion of the third day of the Biomedicine Agency, held in Paris on Thursday 30 and Friday, May 31, Marie-Alice Macher, the transplant center strategy, announced the start of the first cross donations, originally scheduled for last spring, was now imminent. "The matching software is ready, the agreements were signed with most departments of institutions, which must leave the operating room available in case of successful matching. The only thing we lack is a sufficient number of pairs of donors in the database, "she said. The logistics system is also heavy as to ensure the reciprocity of gifts, the two samples and two transplants must be performed simultaneously, requiring the mobilization of four operating theaters."

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Organ shortages remain despite the increase in live donation that has accompanied kidney exchange. But it is illegal to pay donors, so there's an ongoing discussion of other ways to induce a greater supply. Here's a proposal by Choi, Gulati and Posner...

Abstract: Not enough kidneys are donated each year to satisfy the demand from patients who need them. Strong moral and legal norms interfere with market-based solutions. To improve the supply of kidneys without violating these norms, we propose legal reforms that would strengthen the incentive to donate based on altruistic motives. We propose that donors be permitted to donate kidneys in exchange for commitments by recipients or their benefactors to engage in charitable activity or to donate funds to charities chosen by donors. And we propose that charities be permitted to create Altruism Exchanges, which would permit large numbers of altruists to make charitable exchanges with each other, including but not limited to kidney donations. Altruism Exchanges would solve two significant problems with the current system of voluntary kidney donations: the risk of default and the lack of liquidity.

So this is Market Design. It’s written by Alvin Roth. Alvin stands as being, as far as I know, the only person with a Nobel prize who runs a blog. Alvin, along with Lloyd Shapley, won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences last year, and this was Alvin’s blog post that day.
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I would count the Becker-Posner blog in this category too, but I can't tell whether Mr. Schultz overlooked it, or doesn't count it as what he thinks of as a blog...

Friday, June 14, 2013

There will be workshops the 16th and 17th, and the conference proper will be the 18-20th. Some of the sessions that may be of particular interest to readers of this blog are Monday June 17 tutorials on market design by Utku Unver from 9-12:30 and by Tayfun Sonmez from 2-5:30, a session on kidney exchange on Wednesday June 19 (chaired by Aaron Roth) from 10:20-11:20, my talk on kidney exchange on Thursday June 20 from 9-10:00, and a session on Matching (chaired by Itai Ashlagi) from 11:40-12:40. There are also a bunch of sessions on mechanism design, with and without money.